Afterlife is a visual dialogue conducted between Szymon Rogiński’s photographs and the timeless structures of Katarzyna Korzeniecka’s works, created using the marbling (Ebru) technique.
The publication addresses one of the most difficult topics: life and death, the funeral branch, and the dignity of deceased persons and their mourning loved ones. Without judgement or evaluation, it shows the Polish reality and provokes reflection.
The funeral establishments depicted in the photographs are in places that are bustling with life, in-between grocers and wedding dress designers, surrounded by neon signs and omnipresent ads encouraging us to consume. In the empty scenery of nocturnal landscapes, Rogiński freezes with the silent objectiveness of the camera the pieces of reality where life encounters the metaphysics of death. The brutal aesthetics, banners and promotions all conceal the marketing approach of the funeral branch, where pursuit of worldly possessions definitively wins, while the priority for funeral establishments is to quickly dispose of the dead person’s body.
The works of Katarzyna Korzeniecka, where she uses the thousands-years-old marbling technique, imitate the materials traditionally used by grave-makers. Making gravestones for dead people is a manifestation of the need to retain something material, becoming a symbol of victory over death. Erbu pictures, created by means of water and paints made of natural pigments put in motion, touch upon the metaphysical essence of life, its fragility and its evanescence.
